Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Notre Dame
Volleyball Drains Luck Out of Irish
9/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2000
Michigan State's 16th-ranked volleyball team defeated No. 22 Notre Dame 12-15, 15-7, 15-12, 15-10 on Sunday, Sept. 9 in the conclusion of the Notre Dame/adidas Invitational.
The Spartans were led by All-Tournament selection Jessica Sanborn who collected a career-high 26 kills and 16 digs while hitting .452 in the winning effort. Sarah Gustin added 23 kills and 16 digs while Erin Hartley tallied 15 kills and 20 digs. Christie Landry set her career high with 80 assists in the match.
Michigan State jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first game before Notre Dame crept back into contention, scoring six straight points to take an 11-9 lead. The Irish continued to build their lead and, leading 14-12, MSU managed to hold them off for seven sideouts before the game ended with a Notre Dame service ace, 15-12. Sanborn led the Spartan attack in game one with six kills and three blocks while Landry tallied 19 assists.
MSU took a 3-1 lead to open the second game led by kills from Gustin and a service ace from Angela Morley. The Spartan offense started clicking and the points piled up. Leading 13-5, Notre Dame staged a mini-rally to get within six at 13-7 before a Gustin block solo and an Amy Sibbernsen kill ended the game with the Spartans winning 15-7. Sanborn added seven more kills in game two while Hartley notched six digs and the team hit .386
Notre Dame led early in the third game at 5-2 before the Spartans could get in sync and tie the score at five-all. The Irish surged ahead again but MSU came right to tie the score at eight. The score was then tied at nine, 10 and 11 before MSU went ahead for good on a Sibbernsen kill and eventually won 15-12.
The Spartans fell behind 1-7 in the fourth game before fighting back and eventually tying the score at 11. MSU took its first lead of the game at 12-11 but scored no more in falling, 12-15.
MSU opened on a tear in the fifth game. Notre Dame called timeout at 6-2 and again at 9-3. After the second timeout the Irish mounted a comeback and at 13-9 the Spartans called a timeout. After that Notre Dame gave MSU its 14th point on a service error and, after scoring one more point on a kill, Sibbernsen finished off the game and match with a kill to win 15-10.
The Spartans are now 4-2 on the season. Notre Dame falls to 3-3. MSU travels to San Diego next weekend for the San Diego Invitational on Sept. 15-16.
Nebraska 3-0, UCLA 2-1, Michigan State 1-2, Notre Dame 0-3. All-Tournament: Jessica Sanborn - Michigan State, Kristy Kreher - Notre Dame, Kristee Porter - UCLA, Elisabeth Bachman - UCLA, Angie Oxley - Nebraska. MVP: Greichaly Cepero - Nebraska.
